RONNY Deila's side capitulate after going down to 10 men with Legia Warsaw unlucky not to rack up an even more emphatic victory after missing TWO penalties.

IT’S difficult to know exactly where to start with this but already it feels like the end for Celtic.

A calamitous, catastrophic defeat here in Warsaw has left Ronny Deila and his players with hardly a Legia to stand on in the Champions League.

This was a night which started superbly well for Scotland’s champions who breezed into an early lead with a goal from young gun Callum McGregor.

But from that moment it all went very, very wrong. Very, very quickly. And by the time this tortuous first leg was over at the Pepsi Arena, Deila and his dreams had been flattened.

The only possible consolation to which Celtic’s new manager could cling was the realisation that it could have been so much worse had the Poles not missed twice from the spot.

Deila’s defence – if that’s what Celtic’s backline can be described as – had been pulverised by Miroslav Radovic, who netted twice before half-time.

Efe Ambrose, who looked almost shell-shocked by what was being done to him, was red-carded before the break, leaving his mates in the firing line.

And at the end of a torrid second half they conceded two more goals. Now only a miracle can keep them in this competition and save Deila from early disaster.

His selection was certainly bold, if a tad risky.

Straight into the starting XI came new boy Jo Inge Berget despite hardly kicking a ball in six months at Cardiff.

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Celtic defender Efe Ambrose (4th right) is shown a red card from referee Pol van Boekel in the first half

The versatile Norwegian was entrusted with a role wide on Celtic’s left wing where he was backed up by full-back Adam Matthews, another surprise inclusion ahead of Emilio Izaguirre.

And, of course, on the opposite flank, there was a place for youngster McGregor who was not about to waste any time in vindicating his manager’s decision.

In truth, the 20-year-old had been drifting almost from the kick-off as if he was following his instincts into a more central position.

Just seven minutes in McGregor dropped a shoulder to jink inside again, working the ball on to his left foot before unloading from 20 yards with a shot which left Dusan Kuciak clawing at the sticky night air as it ripped inside the keeper’s left-hand post.

It may have taken a deflection on its way but that mattered not one bit. Celtic were ahead with an away goal in the bank and this free-scoring rookie was off and running again, celebrating his second strike of these summer qualifiers.

In many ways, it was the stuff of dreams for McGregor but also for Celtic and Deila. The perfect start.

But just when they ought to have allowed themselves time to savour it – to settle on it and to suffocate this tie for a while – they wilted in the most unsatisfactory manner.

Two minutes was all they managed before breaking down in spectacular fashion and finding themselves back on level terms. First, skipper Charlie Mulgrew was relieved of possession all too easily deep inside Celtic’s territory.

But, even so, Mulgrew could not have expected the defences behind him to crumble all at once.

Had Ambrose done no more than simply stand his ground there would have been nowhere for Michal Zyro to go with the ball.

Instead, Ambrose looked spooked and came rushing out towards the Pole, leaving a huge gap in behind.

Zyro merely had to roll the ball into that space to find the lurking dangerman Radovic and the striker squeezed off a shot.

Even then Fraser Forster had more than a decent chance of stopping it but somehow the ball squirted through his legs and ricocheted into his net.

Deila’s system was not working. Berget was offering almost nothing and Matthews looked ring rusty.

Stefan Johansen was failing to control the middle of the park, Teemu Pukki was doing nothing to unsettle the Polish defence and as for Ambrose? Well, big curly toes was having one of those nights which seem to visit him all too often.

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Inge Jo Berget was given his debut in a bold move that didn't pay off for Celtic

Despite all of it, Kris Commons – who had also been sluggish – very nearly fired Celtic back into the lead midway through the half when he darted through a hole at the heart of Legia’s defence and smashed a shot which cleared the bar by an inch or two.

The trouble was, Celtic’s back four looked vulnerable, overexposed and error-prone. Mikael Lustig got his pals in trouble with one horribly loose pass and had to be bailed out by the outstanding Virgil van Dijk, who superbly blocked Ondrej Duda’s shot.

Van Dijk though was rushing around fighting fires all across Forster’s backline. Often his work was immense.

But he could do nothing to stop Celtic going behind in 36 minutes when Matthews allowed a cross to come in from his flank, Lustig was beaten in the air at the back post by Michal Kucharczyk, Ambrose slipped and fell when he ought to have been lashing it into Row Z and Radovic pounced to slam home from close range.

It was a disastrous concession and there was another calamity to come.

With two minutes of the half left, Ambrose got himself sent off with a senseless late lunge to stop Kucharczyk from racing clear after another strangely clumsy touch from Mulgrew.

Dutch ref Pol van Boekel had no option but to flash the red card. This was now a deadly serious situation.

Deila responded by telling Pukki to stay inside after the interval, sending Beram Kayal into the centre of midfield and asking Mulgrew to slot in at centre half. Damage limitation was required.

But eight minutes into the second half Radovic slipped past van Dijk’s tackle to hit the byline and pick out Zyro with a clever back heel.

This time it took a magnificent save from Forster – spreading himself at point-blank range – to stop Zyro from firing the Poles into a two-goal lead.

Then an even better chance, this time from the spot after Mulgrew had dangled out a lazy leg sending Duda sprawling inside the box.

Ref Boekel pointed instantly to the spot and Mulgrew looked to the heavens.

Celtic needed all the help they could get and mercifully they got it because even though Ivica Vrdoljak conned Forster into flying to his right with a stuttering run-up the skipper incredibly fired wide of an open goal.

It was the mother of all let-offs for Celtic. Deila removed Berget and replaced him with Izaguirre. This gamble on the new boy had not worked.

Finally, Celtic were steadying their listing ship. Yes, every now and then the Poles would slice through but their shots were being charged down, usually van Dijk or Mulgrew.

With 15 minutes left Deila replaced Commons with Leigh Griffiths to give his team fresh legs but, really, Celtic’s task was now to defend deep and in numbers and to escape from this place without suffering irreparable damage.

But with six minutes left they buckled and again Radovic was in the thick of it, twisting and turning Izaguirre into the middle of next week before clipping over a cross from the right for Zyro to glance home unchallenged.

And before Celtic had time to clear their heads, Mulgrew was giving away another penalty, a soft one for a pull on Jakub Kosecki.

Mulgrew was booked but then let off the hook for a second time when Vrdoljak missed from the spot with Foster saving superbly low at his left.

But the killer fourth goal did arrive in injury time when Lukasz Broz picked out sub Kosecki with a sweeping cross from the right and he fired home to wrap up a calamitous night for Celtic.